If you’ve ever felt like the deck was stacked against you while shopping for a car or truck, you’re not wrong. The truth is, the dealer has always had the upper hand. That’s because in most cases, the person selling you the vehicle knows the car-buying game way better than you do. But that’s not your fault. Unless you’re in the business, why should you be expected to know all the tricks of the trade?

These days, it’s rare for someone to start their car-buying research when they walk into the dealership. In fact, 86 percent of car-buyers conduct research online before even walking onto the lot. The internet has changed the game. That said, not all sites are created equal. The majority of automotive search tools on the internet only feature cars that dealers pay to be promoted. These tools are closer to advertising sites than unbiased search engines.

When it comes to buying a car, knowledge truly is power. There’s a direct correlation between how much you know and how good of a deal you’re going to get on your next vehicle — new or used. It’s really that simple! Know your model, be aware of prices in your area, have a firm grasp on what’s important to you in a car, and understand the ins and outs of the negotiation process.

From 2000 to 2017, 275 new and existing car models were offered in the U.S. This is a dizzying amount of options, so it’s no wonder that buying a new or used vehicle gets stressful. We get so overwhelmed that we typically consider only a small handful of vehicles, often based on what’s popular or what friends and family drive. It’s understandable. An abundance of choices can be paralyzing! But a tool like CoPilot can help you make sense of it all.

Remember the shell game? It was a con you’d see on street corners in big cities (like my native Chicago). The “dealer” would move a ball or a pea rapidly among three cups, and you’d have to guess where it ended up. It would seem easy until you started betting on the outcome, at which point the dealer would hide the ball using sleight of hand. The ball would vanish, as would your money.